


Whispered Words

by HarperJean



Category: Hanson (Band)
Genre: Cheating, Extramarital Affairs, Implied Zaylor, Multi, No Smut, Suspicions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 08:19:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13050141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarperJean/pseuds/HarperJean
Summary: Natalie uncovers why she and Taylor have been so distant, and why Zac and Kate have been fighting.  The truth is far from what she expected.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [themayqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/themayqueen/gifts), [ahopper84](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahopper84/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Words on a Screen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4055656) by [ahopper84](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahopper84/pseuds/ahopper84), [themayqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/themayqueen/pseuds/themayqueen). 



> This is a remix of "Words on a Screen", and tells the story from Natalie's point of view. In the original story, we hear from her a little bit, but not much, and I thought it would be awesome to see it all from her perspective, especially if (in my version) she's a lot smarter and quicker than the guys give her credit for.

“Lovely,” Natalie muttered, wiping the spit up off of her neck while trying to simultaneously comfort the toddler in her arms. Tonight’s dinner apparently didn’t sit well with Viggo, and he left his masticated potatoes all over her before switching right into tantrum-mode. He was a wiggly boy, and usually a pretty happy kid, but he had his moments. And they always seemed to come right after dinner. 

“Viggo, come on, you gotta calm down,” she pleaded with him, knowing that nothing she said could ever make him stop screaming at this point. He was cranky from staying up too late the night before because Dad was home for an evening before heading out for a full day in the studio the next morning. She felt tears press against her eyes and willed them not to fall. _Not right now, Nat_ , she scolded herself. _You don’t have time right now._

“Mom do you want me to take him?” Ezra offered; her sweet boy who was way too young to be acting like such a mature young man. He always tried to help Natalie, because he seemed to inherently know when she was overwhelmed. 

“No, I’m okay Ez. You threw tantrums too, I’m used to it.” 

“Yeah but I was the only one you had to calm down…” 

She closed her eyes and bounced Viggo until he wore himself out. His screaming left a ringing in her ear, and she could feel a headache coming on. She cooed against his hair until he settled down, and she carried him to his room and tucked him in gingerly, hoping that the worst was over. When she closed the door she Ieaned against it in defeat, unable to stop the tears that finally started to fall. 

It was moments like these that she always thought about her life at seventeen, how she wished she could go back and tell that girl to savor every moment; every reckless summer day, every drive around the neighborhood, every day in high school where the most stressful thing was the chemistry quiz she would have to take in fourth period. Now she had four children and she wasn’t even ten years out from those golden days of May, where school was winding down and the clock was being watched, seniors everywhere counting down the moments until freedom. 

_I swear that just happened_ , she thought to herself, wondering how the time had flown so fast. Her life was so different now, and yet it seemed like senior year had just ended, Kate and Natalie whooping like lunatics at the sound of the final bell. _Who am I kidding, I was already pregnant._ Senior year was a nightmare, if she looked at it without the rose colored glasses of memory. She wiped her face and trudged back downstairs. As soon as she got the older kids to bed she could pour a glass of wine and relax. For now.

***

That night, Natalie felt the bed shift as Taylor collapsed into it next to her. She couldn’t remember the last time they had spent time together, just the two of them. But, that’s the way it was, she supposed.

She felt him tossing and turning and wondered if she should speak up and let him know she was awake, if he needed to talk. He had seemed a bit distant lately, but she just figured it was because he was stressed. He always had a lot on his plate, she couldn’t deny that, even if most of the child rearing did fall to her. But, she let it go. She knew there was nothing she could do.

***

“Are you okay?” Taylor asked once the kids were in bed, looking at his wife and seeing her grimace.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a headache,” she replied, trying her best to not to sound too cranky. 

“You can go to bed, Nat.”

 

“I know it’s just...we never…” 

“I know, but it’s okay. You don’t feel good. I’ll still be here in the morning, I promise.” He kissed her forehead gently and shooed her off to bed. 

“God, I look old,” she muttered to herself as she washed her face. Earlier that day, she and Kate had joked about that very thing while getting some shopping done, both of them burdened with strollers and constantly counting children to make sure the whole crew was with them. 

“We’re old ladies, Nat. We just have to deal with it,” Kate had said when Natalie pulled a face picking Viggo up from the ground. 

Natalie laughed and adjusted Viggo so that her hip didn’t scream with pain. “I’m not old!!” she said playfully, even though she felt it. “I shouldn’t have hip pain!” 

“Yeah well...they make us age faster.” 

“The kids?” 

“Our husbands.” 

“Well that’s true,” Natalie said, struggling to strap Viggo back into the stroller so they could actually leave the grocery store. “Speaking of...how is...everything.” 

Natalie didn’t particularly want to bring up the subject, but she knew her best friend wasn’t having the best time in her marriage. She knew they fought a lot, and heard about almost every marital spat, which she knew Zac probably didn’t appreciate. 

“Exhausting,” Kate replied plainly. “I feel like I’m a single mom. I hate feeling like I’m doing this whole thing by myself.” 

“Yeah, I understand that.” 

“I figured you would. I just hate fighting so much. Sorry, I’m like making this sound like such a big deal and it isn’t. I have two kids and you have four, I shouldn’t be complaining. It’s just a fight.” 

“Yeah, you’ll be fine.” 

“I feel like you guys _never_ fight, though…” 

“I don’t really...have anyone to fight with. It makes things easier,” she said with a defeated smile that she hoped Kate would read as reassuring. 

Natalie climbed into bed and sighed. She wanted Kate to believe that she was right, that they had a great marriage even though Taylor always seemed to be busy. But it was hard to keep that up. She had fooled herself for so many years, and it was getting more and more difficult to believe in it.

***

“You want eggs, Tay?” Natalie asked over her shoulder when her husband came down for breakfast.

“Sure.” 

Natalie piled his plate high with scrambled eggs from the huge mess of them in the skillet. It was Saturday and she had the whole day planned with the family, now that Taylor was home. He was in between tour legs and she could tell that he needed a break. He sat down at the table and Ezra handed him a section of the paper, causing Natalie to chuckle at how similar they were. 

When Natalie had said to Kate that she didn’t have anyone to fight with, she wasn’t lying. She and Taylor didn’t fight. They just...didn’t. There were never any screaming matches or cold silences or biting remarks about the other. They just continued to live their lives, Natalie always putting on a huge smile even when Taylor left her alone with four cranky kids. It was a thing that the other wives always seemed to be jealous of, but Natalie was just as envious of them as they were of her. At least they got to feel real feelings and express all of their emotions, even if it did mean that there were fights and hurtful words thrown around. Natalie didn’t ever get to scream or cry or pitch a fit. And she probably could, she just...didn’t. And neither did Taylor. 

When it was good, it was great. Taylor loved his kids dearly and that mutual love for the four little humans they had created together bonded them forever. They laughed heartily at Penny’s boldness and River’s constant giggles. They looked at Ezra with complete admiration as he turned into a little adult. They gazed at Viggo in wonder, never quite over the fact that they had created this perfect little life together. There was also the fact that they had been through so much together, and that no one else really understood, not even Taylor’s brothers. That was something Natalie held close to her chest, seeing as Zac and Isaac got to share everything else with Taylor. But they would never understand what it was like to be scared shitless at the prospect of having a baby at eighteen, or the look they gave each other at the altar that muggy June day, as if to say _“I have no idea what I’m doing but I’m glad we’re in this together.”_ When stuff got hard, Natalie would think about that. She missed those days. They were scary, sure, but they had each other. 

Thinking about all of that, and seeing him at the sunny breakfast table, always made her realize that she could never _leave_ Taylor, even if sometimes in moments of panic she fantasized about it. 

“So what do you guys think about a museum day?” Natalie asked, her voice a little too cheery for someone who hadn’t had any coffee yet. 

“Sounds great, Nat,” Taylor replied, turning a page in the paper.


	2. Chapter 2

“He’s cheating on me,” Kate said plainly, not even tearing her gaze from the playground they had let the kids loose on a few minutes before. 

“What?” Natalie turned to face Kate. They were perched on a picnic table right outside the fence, keeping a watchful eye on the little Hansons who were now dominating the swings and slide. Penny shrieked with delight as Ezra chased her around, creating a spontaneous game of tag. Kate held Junia tightly on her lap, the baby of the group, who was still too little to go play with her cousins. 

“Yep. It’s not even a question. I had been suspecting it for a little while but now I know for sure.” 

“How? How did you find out?” 

“Okay I don’t have like...hard evidence.” 

“Kate…” 

“Just...let me tell you, okay? Please?” 

“Fine, go ahead.” 

“We had a huge fight last night. Like, monumental.” 

“You fight all the time.” 

“Right but this one was worse. And he fought back...hard. It was almost scary, Nat. Anyway, you know we always fight and then we have make-up sex and then we just like...keep living the next day. And, I’ve been _worried_ about him for a while now, he seems so distant and I know stuff at the studio is tense. So...I really made an effort last night! I put on sexy underwear and I was really going for it but...nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?” 

“Nothing! He couldn’t get it up!” 

“Kate, that doesn’t mean he’s _cheating_ on you.” 

“I can just tell, Nat! I know he is. He’s been distant before but never this distant.” 

“I don’t buy it.” 

“Well fine, don’t buy it! I just...I hate this! Sorry, I’m complaining again. I hate admitting that nothing is working. But literally, nothing is working.” 

“Maybe you should go to counselling…” Natalie suggested, before both women burst into laughter at the thought of Zac agreeing to do something like that. He would never. 

“Don’t you ever feel like Taylor is distant? Or pulling away?” 

“Um...every day of my life. I always go to bed and he goes down to his office for a few hours. Because, you know, we don’t spend enough time apart as it is.” 

“That’s awful. I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s okay. Whatever. He has to do what he has to do, ya know?” 

“I guess.”

***

Natalie couldn’t help but notice that the distance between herself and Taylor was growing wider and wider. She wanted to chalk it up to this being their version of normal, but she knew it was more than that. Weeks passed and she saw him less and less. The band went on tour and came back, and nothing was different even when he was home. He would lock himself in his office and only talk to her when it was necessary. One night she came downstairs to check on him, and found the door closed. She could hear him crying behind it. _Crying_. She rushed back upstairs, afraid of getting caught.

One night, Taylor was at the studio and had sent a text saying he wasn’t going to be home any time soon. Natalie sighed and looked around the living room hopelessly, already bored out of her mind now that the kids were in bed. She padded to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She settled herself on the couch and flipped on the TV. 

Talking to Kate about Zac and their issues made her feel good. It made her feel like she was making a difference in someone’s life, when she so often felt alone and trapped in the little bubble of her home. She missed the days that she and her best friend would stay up too late on school nights pretending to do homework when really they were gossipping about boys. She smiled at the memory. Natalie fell for Taylor so hard and so fast that she knew within a day that there was no coming back from it. Even before he called her and even before they first held hands, she knew that he was it for her. She remembered fiercely guarding their relationship during its early stages, only gushing to Kate even though she wanted to announce to the entire school that she was Taylor Hanson’s girlfriend. Finally, the day came when he took her to her school dance, and she floated around the gymnasium, feeling everyone’s wide eyes and disbelieving stares. She couldn’t even imagine the kind of hurt she would have gone through if he had broken up with her. She probably would have taken to her bed for weeks, letting the tears spill down her face. She probably would have stopped washing her hair or taking phone calls. She was that far gone. But he didn’t break up with her. He married her. And now, she felt lonelier than ever. 

_Maybe he’s cheating on me too_ , she thought, snorting quietly into her wine glass. A laugh started in her throat and before she knew it she was cracking up 

“I wouldn’t even care at this point!!” She said out loud, laughing even more when the dog looked at her with confusion. 

She wiped away a tear and her gaze landed on Taylor’s laptop, which he had apparently left on the coffee table before scurrying off to the studio. _That’s weird_ , she thought, _He never leaves that_. She felt emboldened by the glass of wine she had drained and pulled the computer onto her lap, throwing it open and hoping it wasn’t password protected. The screen sprung to life and she heaved a sigh of relief that she didn’t have to guess any passwords. She clicked around a bit and opened the browser to find a couple tabs that Taylor hadn’t closed out of. One was a chat window, which she found a bit odd but hey, it could be worse. She could find porn open or something. 

In any other circumstance she would have respected her husband’s privacy. She would have closed the laptop and just left it alone. But she had wine in her belly and a bad case of nostalgia and she couldn’t help herself. She scanned the conversation quickly. This person was calling him Jordan. This person’s name was Sam. This person…

She slammed the laptop closed. 

He was cheating on her. 

With a man.


	3. Chapter 3

It was days before she could look Kate in the eye. She didn’t want to admit that after all this time, after all the conversations they had about Kate’s marriage, Natalie remaining the voice of reason, that _she_ was the one in the failing marriage. She knew she would have to tell her best friend at some point, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She continued on as though nothing had happened. 

She met Kate at the park once again to let the kids run around for an hour or two. She knew that the two of them would go crazy without park days (she dreaded winter every year for that very reason). It was a chance to let the kids have free play time while they could sit on the picnic table and talk, only Junia’s baby ears listening. 

As soon as she saw Kate walking towards her, Natalie knew something was wrong. It was a gloomy day, and Kate’s face matched the weather. She looked absolutely distraught, as though maybe she had been crying. 

“You okay?” Natalie said as they met at their customary perch. She knew her best friend better than anyone, and she knew Kate was on the verge of an massive fit. 

“Nope.” 

“You’re mad.” 

“Yep.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

“I found it. I found evidence. I looked at his phone last night when he was in the shower.” 

“Kate!” Natalie reprimanded, not saying a word about the fact that she had snooped as well. 

“I guess it’s someone he met online, I don’t know. But they’re very clearly seeing each other. Friends don’t talk to each other like...that…” 

“What do you mean? Dirty stuff?” 

“Yeah.” 

Natalie sighed and took a sip from her travel mug full of coffee. She was so tired all the time, she figured she would benefit from an IV of the stuff permanently dripping into her veins. 

“Wanna know the real kicker?” Kate asked. Junia babbled happily in her stroller. It was almost comical, the conversation they were having juxtaposed with the delighted shrieks from their children on the swings. It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. 

“Do I?” 

“Probably not, but I’m going to tell you anyway.” 

“Great.” 

“I think...I think it’s with a guy.” Even as Kate said it her voice dripped with disbelief. Natalie felt her entire stomach drop. What was going on?! Her brain spun in circles, attempting to make everything fall into place. Maybe that was Zac’s laptop on the coffee table. It was too much of a coincidence. Maybe Zac had come over and he had left his computer and Natalie had seen his conversation. But...his name wasn’t Jordan, that was Taylor’s name. 

“Nat?” 

“Sorry...sorry I’m just...just trying to wrap my mind around that. That’s um...that’s a big bomb to drop.” 

“Yeah, obviously.” 

“Are you sure it was his phone?” 

“On his bedside table? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was Zac’s phone.” 

“Do you know who the person is?” 

“No, but he kept calling Zac “Sam” which is weird.” 

Natalie’s vision blurred. She felt like she was going to pass out. The entire world tilted. She felt bile in the back of her throat. She tried to focus on Ezra, who was swinging so high he could have launched himself up into the sky if he wanted to. 

“...Kate?” she squeaked out, blood pounding in her ears.

“Yeah?” 

“I have to tell you something…”


End file.
